Chenette announces bid for third Senate term - Press Herald

Sen. Justin Chenette, who represents District 31, has announced his bid for a third term in the Maine Senate. Courtesy Photo

SACO — Sen. Justin Chenette said he has turned in the required signatures needed to be placed on the ballot for re-election to Senate District 31, which includes Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Hollis, Limington, and part of Buxton.

Democrat Chenette, 28, of Saco, is looking for his third term in the Maine Senate, and remains its youngest member. He previously served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives.

He is the Senate chair of the bipartisan Government Oversight Committee, Senate chair of the Marijuana Advisory Commission, co-chair of the Democracy Reform Caucus, and is a member of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, Senate Ethics Committee, and the Maine Climate Council’s Coastal and Marine Working Group. He is also a Citizen Trade Policy commissioner.

Chenette referred to his work on ethics issues in the last term, which he said led to passage of comprehensive campaign finance reform.

The legislation, “bans lobbyist contributions to lawmakers and candidates, closes the revolving door of legislators becoming lobbyists, and ends the ability of legislators to use political action committees as a personal slush fund,” Chenette said in a news release announcing his bid for re-election.

“I’ve always had a personal governing philosophy that legislators need to be the peoples’ lobbyist. It is, after all, your seat not mine,” said Chenette. “After years of fighting, advocating, and persisting, I’ve finally broken through the establishment to achieve sizable progress in creating a more ethical state house.”

Aside from ethics, Chenette also passed legislation that adds water in Maine statutes as a public right, creates a stakeholder group to examine and overhaul school anti-bullying laws to ensure student safety, bans offshore oil drilling, and creates added consumer protections from robocall harassment.

“It’s critical we have a senator that not only talks about leadership but delivers real results both at the state house and here at home,” Chenette said. “I’ve been working around the clock to ensure the Maine Turnpike Authority moves forward on the $40 million project to open up Saco’s old exit, coordinate the Department of Environmental Protection commissioner visit to Saco to discuss how the state can be a partner in Camp Ellis erosion mitigation, and push the Department of Education to discuss additional ways to fund school construction projects like (a new) Young School.”

Chenette said he is in the process of becoming qualified as a Clean Elections candidate.

As of Monday, Feb. 10, he was the sole Senate District 31 candidate registered with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices’ Maine Campaign Finance page.

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